NJPW 5/18/18 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, BOSJ XXV Block A: Will Ospreay vs. Taiji Ishimori 13:47
DC: This was the first time these two wrestlers were in the ring together. It’s fitting that Will Ospreay is called Will, because he showed a tremendous will to win from the very start of the match. Taiji Ishimori had made his return to NJPW and was a heel at this point. This meant the match relied a lot on Ospreay’s ability to make this match memorable. Of course, Ishimori was still quite useful regardless of the heel gimmick. Ospreay did a good job of selling for Ishimori’s offense. And Ospreay did this while keeping in mind that Ishimori was somewhat hampered by having to play a Bullet Club heel. All in all, this was an interesting match, because, even though they didn’t do the non-stop flying I had perhaps hoped for, they turned it into a surprisingly unpredictable match. While the wrestling was at times slightly overdeliberate, this was compensated for by the solid storytelling. Very good match. ***¾   

NJPW 1/21/19 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Volador Jr. vs. Caristico 17:55
DC: This was a fascinating match-up between two of the best Mexican luchadores of the past 25 years or so. Caristico was the original Mistico (a.k.a. Myzteziz). Mistico’s execution was superb in this match. And while it was certainly worthwhile seeing these two lucha legends face each other, it felt like there was something missing. While certainly excellent here, Volador Jr. wasn’t quite as immersed and alert as we usually know him to be, but perhaps that’s because he had lost a hair match in Mexico just a few months prior. His athleticism was awesome, but what seemed to happen is that Volador wasn’t quite comfortable in his role as the reactionary performer, as he’s usually the one carrying matches. In this match, it was Mistcio who was the one who smoothly controlled the pace and suspense of the match. Volador won the match, but he showed a lot of respect for his opponent, maybe even a bit too much. Very good match. ***½

NJPW/ROH 4/6/19 NYC MSG, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Taiji Ishimori vs. Dragon Lee vs. Bandido 8:54
DC: This was just one amazing moment after another. What prevented this from being excellent was that it was a match under ten minutes that at times was just a little bit too showy to the point that it was almost absurd. The action and athleticism was a lot of fun to watch, though. Very good match. ***¾

NJPW 10/28/19 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Super Junior Tag League: Volador Jr. & Titan vs. SHO & YOH 16:25
DC: Titan and YOH were the workers of the match, because they were most interested in turning this match into more than just another good junior heavyweight tag team match. SHO did a really good job of working together with his tag team partner, though. Volador Jr. is one of the best Mexican luchadores of the contemporary era, but he couldn’t quite put his stamp on this match. That being said, Volador certainly showed enough well-executed flips to ensure he was absolutely a very useful participant in this match. SHO & YOH were the aggressors in this match, as they really were in desperate need to score a win in this tournament, and they did a really good job to show that desperation. Volador & Titan provided enough resistance to show that they weren’t planning on losing this bout. Volador hit a tremendous tope suicida. Titan almost pinned YOH, but YOH kept hanging in there and was determined to win, which he eventually did via a German suplex pinfall over Titan. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 2/18/24 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Soberano Jr. vs. Templario 18:40
DC: This was from one of those CMLL Fantastica Mania shows presented by NJPW. This match was a wonderful display of contemporary Mexican lucha libre. Since both these workers are very gifted athletically and are very capable in the high flying department, this match was practically a duel in which the weapon of choice was a series of daredevil acts. While the moves themselves looked really cool thanks to their tremendous physical ability, the true excellence came from how they applied all of that in the context of working a memorable match. The timing, selling and teasing of the action is crucially important, and that’s something these two understand very well. Perhaps the only thing that prevented this from being great was that it was almost a little bit too much like a friendly contest, which kind of made sense, since there was really nothing officially at stake here, as this wasn’t a title match nor a tournament match. Still, this was a very enjoyable contest. Excellent match. ****¼   

NJPW 6/1/25 Tokyo Ota City General Gymnasium, BOSJ XXXII Final: YOH vs. Kosei Fujita 28:05
DC: While the majority of the pro wrestling fans were praising others, Kosei Fujita was my pick for 2021 rookie of the year. So when I recently started checking out some recent NJPW again (in July 2026), I was very pleased to see that Fujita had improved so much ever since showing a lot of promise back in 2021 (even more than I had expected). And here we see Fujita in the final of the prestigious Best Of The Super Juniors tournament. YOH had initially impressed people as a tag team wrestler (along with tag team partner SHO), but ever since Roppongi 3K had broken up (which ironically happened around the time Fujita made his debut), YOH had continued being YOH (while SHO changed his style and turned into a member of the villanous House Of Torture sub-stable of Bullet Club). This BOSJ 32 Final was wrestled at a cautious pace, as YOH showed confidence and experience. In the meantime, Fujita showed courage and some more patience, as he realized that he’s got what it takes to make it. The story was a well-told one of Fujita overwhelming YOH progressively as the match went on. While YOH was a more established name in NJPW, Fujita showed that he wasn’t going to let them stop him from giving the best performance possible, one that would benefit the match overall and would benefit how people would view his work. Both men were never selfish and seemed genuinely interested in trying to make this as good as possible. This aspect was truly admirable, especially considering that this tournament final was a match-up that was nothing like the star-studded finals of the 1988-2007 editions of the Super Juniors (at least on paper). The crowd was really into this match, and even Zack Sabre Jr. (who was at ringside) was visibly into this bout. Since this was a major NJPW match, of course this had to go over 25 minutes, which was probably slightly too long. However, the way the pacing was conducted made the length not a detracting factor. Also, the storytelling was done in a surprisingly good way, as they managed to do what they “had to” do (based on the big-match template expected nowadays) yet also try to make it their own thing to make this an actual memorable final. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the match was that the selling displayed during the finishing stretch (which was exactly the right amount of selling, not too much and not too little) prevented it from feeling like overkill. All in all, it was quite an impressive match, as YOH proved that he is perhaps an underrated singles wrestler, and Fujita proved that he is one of the most promising young wrestlers in the business today. Interestingly enough, Fujita won the match and tournament, which was refreshing, as NJPW has had the reputation of being reluctant when it comes to pushing young talent. On this night, however, 22-year old Fujita did indeed become the youngest-ever BOSJ winner. Very good match. ***¾

NJPW 2/27/26 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title: Mistico vs. Soberano Jr. 25:40
DC: Soberano Jr. apparently has a different style mask these days. He acted like a cocky rudo during his ring entrance. He had Templario in his corner, and Mistico had Tiger Mask IV in his corner for this big title bout. By the way, this is the original Mistico, the one who also wrestled as Myzteziz and Caristico at some point in his career. This is the type of match-up that makes these CMLL Fantastica Mania shows presented by NJPW so unique and interesting. For someone in his mid 40s, Mistico is definitely still very capable and very relevant as a top-level luchador. The lucha displayed here was executed so gracefully, which made it truly a joy to watch. Mistico’s experience and proficiency were key factors in this match working so well. Soberano’s work stood out through his ability to anticipate and reply promptly. There were so many cool spots that I’m really not going to list them all, as you should truly just watch this match. But one example is Mistico doing a dive off the fan entrance in the crowd onto Soberano. The high flying lucha artillery used was of high quality from both sides. The timing and selling, always crucial in these matches that feature so much amazing athleticism, were right on the money. This is what sets apart the contenders from the pretenders, and this bout is definitely in contention for being one of my favorite matches of the year. Great match. ****½

NJPW 5/29/26 Niigata, BOSJ XXXIII Block A: Valiente Jr. vs. Kosei Fujita 11:01
DC: This was deservingly the main event of this show. The story of Kosei Fujita’s BOSJ 33 was that he had collected less points than expected, based on the fact that he was the previous year’s winner. Fujita’s nickname was “The Japanese Young Buck,” which is a great nickname for him. Valiente Jr. is an underrated Mexican luchador. Both workers roughly were of the same age (mid 20s) and roughly had the same amount of pro wrestling experience (approximately five years) at the time of this match. What’s perhaps most impressive about Fujita’s work is how much confidence and calmness he shows, as he seems perfectly equipped with the knowledge and ability of how to put his stamp on the match in an unselfish yet uplifting manner. Valiente Jr. may not be the most famous Mexican luchador of recent times, but what an excellent choice he was to be a participant in this tournament, as he fit in very well. Both participants in this match understood that what they were going for was a combination of different aspects of contemporary pro wrestling, some matwork, plenty of stand-up and launching attacks, and of course, high flying (but only when appropriate). This diverse list of healthy ingredients made for a match that lived up to expectations. The way they shifted between these stylistic changes within the match was done in a very organic and natural way, which enhanced the idea that they were trying to give a strong performance with the goal to win, while not being afraid to try to impress people with talent and skill. The match was of the right length for what this was, a match in the middle of the tournament that helped Fujita re-establish himself as one of the favorites to win the tournament. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 6/7/26 Tokyo Ota City General Gymnasium, BOSJ XXXIII Final: YOH vs. Kosei Fujita 28:01
DC: Interestingly enough, this was the very first time that the participants of the BOSJ Final were both the same ones as the year prior. That means we got a rematch of the surprisingly good BOSJ 32 Final. No complaints here. What a great opportunity for both these guys to prove themselves. YOH had the chance to show that he is indeed one of the more overlooked workers of the past 10 years or so, and “Japanese Young Buck” Kosei Fujita had the chance to show that he was indeed one of the most promising young workers in contemporary pro wrestling. The crowd was really into this from the start, perhaps remembering how good last year’s (6/1/25) final was, and perhaps because these two had managed to maintain relevance over the course of the past year. The match took place in the very same arena as the previous year’s final, and it was of very similar length (roughly 28 minutes). Ultimately, the underlying story was the same as last year, as YOH had over 10 years more pro wrestling experience as Fujita had, and YOH was over 12 years older than Fujita was (as YOH was born a day after Owen Hart lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title to Shiro Koshinaka in 1988). What was different this time, compared to the 2025 final, was that YOH seemed more immersed in his role as YOH (as opposed to being a singles-match version of the former Roppongi 3K tag team he was a part of with SHO), and Fujita showed more intensity and attitude. Fujita was no longer concerned about being the sympathetic babyface as much as he was the previous year, as he was now an established star after winning the prestigious BOSJ tournament in 2025. Fujita had also shown that he was a consistent performer who could uplift opponents, matches and shows. This was a very competitive match, as YOH was indeed not interested in being a washed-up shell of his former self, and he was really into what he was doing and enjoying the fact that he was still such a relevant performer in 2026 (arguably unexpectedly so). This 2026 match had a bit more of a higher intensity level than the 2025 one. The pacing was roughly the same, but it feels that the moves were all given more meaning and impact (perhaps thanks to the fact that they knew they could deliver a memorable final together). The fact that they took their time and focused a lot on storytelling was realistic because of the fact that last year’s final went over 25 minutes. This didn’t stop them from adding the necessary flashes of urgency whenever the opportunity arose. These two really understand how to wrestle a very memorable contemporary pro wrestling match. There were plenty of interesting moments of struggle, blocking, countering and taking advantage of opportunities. The match never felt overly long, and the match always felt interesting and fascinating. Combined with their display of focus and eagerness to succeed, the fact that they knew they could pull off a memorable match resulted in the confidence to produce something that managed to exceed what they did last year. While it would have been nice to see Fujita win (since he’s pretty much the present and future of men’s puroresu), it would not have been a good thing for him, as that would eliminate several opportunities for him to play the role of someone who was fighting for success (especially since he’s still only in his mid 20s, which is very young for a top worker these days). Plus, the fact that YOH won this match makes him deservingly an established veteran who can still hang in there with younger talent. And YOH’s win never undermined Fujita’s progress in any way, as it was the rematch of a memorable final, and it was a result that didn’t come easily. It will be interesting to see what role YOH will continue to play in NJPW, and it will be interesting to see how Fujita will recover from this high-profile loss. Excellent match. ****

6/21/93 WWF, 10.000 Dollar Challenge: Razor Ramon vs. The 1-2-3 Kid 5:15
ML: The Kid shocked Razor with a 2:12 upset in their first match on 5/17/93, Kid's 5th match with the WWF. Getting lucky against an opponent who was dramatically underestimating him was one thing, doing it again was another. Razor had been trying for a rematch for the last month, and finally bribed Kid with 10k. He was determined to get his money's worth, or as Bobby Heenan said, "He's gonna get $50,000 worth out of his hide." Kid played it well, he was afraid, but a willingness to crash and burn is in his nature. This was a smartly worked sprint that was really good while it lasted, but had a cheesy ending to continue this as a feud. Kid got a couple athletic moves in at the outset, then Razor caught him in the fallaway slam and began to extract his revenge. Razor was using big power moves to punish him, and it seemed like he could beat this young punk any time he wanted to, but Kid finally back body dropped his way out of the Razor's edge on the concrete. Unfortunately, he legit slipped off the top and went crashing to the floor trying a tope con giro, which was to be the key to his comeback and the highlight of the match. They then improvised their way to a still woozy Kid hitting the moonsault attack that he won their first match with. This time Razor kicked out, so since Kid didn't have to win to get Razor's money, he just grabbed the bag and ran off like a thief in the night. Razor chased him to the parking lot, but Kid actually had a getaway car ready, and was driven off. I guess with 10k, you can afford a driver. As lousy endings go, at least this was funny. Razor once again lost the battle. Even though he kicked out this time, he was further humiliated. Underdog Kid was really over, and this match cemented him as an actual player in the company rather than another one of Vince's fleeting jokes. **3/4

9/30/26 AEW: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet 16:14
ML: PAC was an inspiration for these two, not just as one of the great high flyers who came up before them, but as Ospreay's countryman who gave him hope he could also make it in Japan and America, and Ricochet's big brother roommate in Dragon Gate. I still don't like Ospreay & Ricochet hugging before going out and beating each other up, but their sort of aerial exhibition has little to do with animosity anyway. They flashed back to the gymnastics oriented match they were doing together a decade ago, rather than doing what they usually do today, with Ospreay doing his not so greatest hits on autopilot and Ricochet largely stalling. Their AEW matches are definitely the older slower version of what was once top tier aerial warfare, but they were trying hard today for PAC. They weren't breaking any new ground, but it's been almost 2 years since they wrestled, so it was fun seeing them do it again. Ospreay works a lot better against Ricochet than almost anyone in AEW, as he still bothers to develop the sequences and include a lot more answers; he's not just having the opponent counter the Oscutter with whatever is relevant and doing his standard paint by numbers stuff. Ricochet was the more impressive of the two here. He had the better flying, the better gymnastics, and he didn't have the uncharacteristic moments of sloppingness Ospreay did here. Excalibur claimed Ricochet did a shooting star Pele kick, which I don't think is even physically possible. Really, it was a knee instead of the traditional body press a shooting star ends in. Ospreay knocked Ricochet out with a typically shabby hidden blade then hesitated looking at the corner, eventually getting the confidence to try PAC's falcon arrow for the win. That was the perfect way to end the match. Although it was great to see Brian Danielson again, the opposition was terrible and the match was otherwise completely forgetable. They should have had Ospreay vs. Ricochet be a title match and put it on last, as it was the best representation of the PAC people loved throughout his career (rather than the guy Tony was wasting the last couple years as just another one of the plumber's lackeys), and went to the final PAC tribute video from all the post match hugging. ***

10/27/90 WCW, NWA United States Tag Title: Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner vs. Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags 15:24
ML: This was something of an ECW match before ECW existed, a combination of brawling and spectacular high spots. The difference here is they still bothered to follow the rules, which limited them somewhat because this wasn't a no rules match, but also made it feel more like a serious grudge match than simply guys clowning around with weapons. Sometimes it almost felt like the match in reverse order, but getting the crowd into it right from the outset after the series of underwhelming matches that preceeded this allowed them to get away with filler later on when they had to stick to actually fighting inside the ring for the most part. The Nasty Boys were never a team I was particularly impressed by, this is probably their best match, and even then it's mostly interesting for Scott, but they had a better work ethic in these days and were a lot more believable as rowdies before WWF sanitized them and turned them into cartoonish smelly guys. In these days, they sometimes made me believe in their brawling style, which is why their gimmick worked initially but then seemed so jokey later on. The Nasty Boys were okay when they were roughing up the opponent, but they would just hold with a bear hug or Boston crab. At least they were working Scott's back rather than being totally random, but I would rather they stayed aggressive and just put the boots to him or whatever. Their lengthy heat segment was the weakest part of the match by far, but overall, they were able to mix enough moves into the brawling style to keep things from stagnating too much until the Steiners made their next comeback. Of course, Steiner brothers provided a lot of exciting offense, big suplexes from Scott, but not as many impressive double teams as usual, mainly a doomsday bulldog stood out. Jim Ross did a great job here of making the match and action seem important, keeping the audience locked in. This still came across as an athletic contest because of the way it was presented by both JR calling it like a sporting event and the wrestlers abiding by the rules even though their desire was to do something a little different. Once the match got going, there wasn't a lot of brawling because the ref was actually allowed to do his job for the most part. Eventually, Rick broke up a pin with a chair when the refs back was turned, surprisingly busting open Sags at a point when WCW had largely moved away from the bloody matches of the NWA. Scott pinmed Knobbs with his Frankensteiner, but both Steiners got hit with the tag belt afterwards, and the Nasty Boys injured Rick by ramming his shoulder into the ring post twice. Scott thus did the post match interview with Phantom of the Opera Tony Schiavone on his own, but was attacked by a popcorn vendor who turned out to be Sags with a fake beard. This post match added to the match, but that's not only because it suited the Nasty Boys character, but also because they didn't have a post match attack in every other match like Tony Khan insists on doing, so it actually felt like we saw something. This was intended to be the beginning of an ongoing feud that based on this match had a surprising amount of potential, but WCW never bothered to lock the Nasty Boys up with a binding contract, so WWF swooped in and stole them by December. This started off really exciting, but it needed more juice in the middle or a shorter run time, as the heat segment was too long and basic, and they'd already used to much of what they had to offer early, so the climax didn't fully make up for that. ***1/4